Prior to the present invention, no one has been able to produce clean holes in a material on a 20 Angstrom scale; the minimum width of isolated lines made on solid substrates is currently about 0.1 m (Ahmed and McMahon; Microscopy of Semiconducting Materials, page 421 (1981) The Institute of Physics, Bristol and London). Structures with dimensions of about 100 Angstroms have been reported (Broers; Microcircuit Engineering pg. 9 (1980) Delft University Press) by focusing an electron beam onto a thin substrate covered with an oil film, thereby polymerizing the oil to form a contamination resist layer. Electron beam writing has also been reported (Isaacson and Murray, J. Vac. Sci. Technology, 19(4):1117, (1981) American Vacuum Society) in sodium chloride crystals on a carbon substrate.
Extensive research has been conducted on the properties and uses of Beta-alumina since its first being reported by Rankin and Merwin in 1916.
More specifically, by the term Beta-alumina as used in reference to the present disclosure, we refer to a class of materials having structures similar to or related to the composition: EQU M.sub.2 O.X(Al.sub.2 O.sub.3)
commonly referred to as .beta.-alumina wherein M is a metal such as sodium, potassium, lithium, rubidium, silver, copper, ammonium, lead, etc., and wherein X is an integer from 5 to 11. Also included are all polytypes of .beta.-alumina, for example, .beta.", .beta.", and .beta.""-aluminates which have been stabilized by the addition of an additional metal oxide such as magnesium oxide or lithium oxide or a mixed oxide and which has the composition: EQU M.sub.2 O.x(MgO).y(Al.sub.2 O.sub.3)
Wherein M is a metal, and x and y are not necessarily integers and the composition is not necessarily stoichiometric. These materials are all positive ionic conductors having no electron conduction. In order for the electron cutting of the present invention to occur, the material (such as Beta-alumina) is required to be a positive ionic conductor.